Brossoit ‘confused’ after being odd man out for Team Canada

Canadian junior team selection camp goalie Laurent Brossoit makes a save during exhibition action against CIS players in Calgary on Thursday. Brossoit was later released by the team.Photo by
Larry MacDougal

CALGARY — Laurent Brossoit’s arrival at the national junior team selection camp was all glitz and glamour at Calgary International Airport, where the media was making a major fuss about star centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

There was no glitz associated with the Edmonton Oil Kings netminder’s departure Thursday night, just confusion and no small amount of pain at being the odd man out as Team Canada cut down from four goalies to three for the upcoming world junior hockey championship.

“They told me I did everything I could and that it wasn’t my play in the camp,” the 19-year-old Brossoit told a thick scrum of reporters in a Calgary hotel hallway. “They thought I played well in the camp.

“Myself, I’m a little confused. You wonder what else you could have done, but it is what it is.”

Was he frustrated at the decision, given his strong play at the brief camp?

“Yeah. It’s always frustrating when you don’t know what else you could have done,” the Surrey, B.C. native said. “I thought I stopped the pucks I needed to stop.

“ I guess it’s not just camp that they evaluate you (on). I’m just going to take this experience and better myself for the future.”

In fact, head coach Steve Spott of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, made clear to the players it was their body of work with their junior clubs, at previous camps and in the Subway Super Series against the Russian All-Stars that was considered.

On Monday, for a brief few minutes, Brossoit caught a glimpse of the magic that attends the World Junior Championship, which opens on Dec. 26 in Ufa, Russia.

He was taken aback by the media crush surrounding Edmonton Oilers star Nugent-Hopkins as the players arrived.

“I wasn’t even thinking about it at all when I got to the airport,” said Brossoit, a 6th-round choice of the Calgary Flames in the 2011 NHL Draft. “We opened the doors to the terminal and it was pretty hectic.

“Afterwards, you sit back and think it’s pretty expected, considering he’s the first overall pick, played in the NHL and he’s a helluva player.

“That day definitely put it in perspective how big of a stage this is. It just added that much more pressure.”

Shortly after Brossoit surrendered no goals in a 30-minute stint for Team Canada against a group of Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) All-Stars, he reckoned he was handling the pressure well, actually.

“I felt good,” he said. “I felt like the goals that did get past me were not my fault.

“To only let in two the whole camp, I’m happy about that, too. I felt, technically, I was in position. My feet felt good under me, I felt and I felt like my rebounds were under control.”

Many observers believed Malcolm Subban of the Belleville Bulls was pencilled in as the No. 1 goalie from the start. Whether that proves true or not, he certainly made the team.

The other two goalies will be Jordan Binnington of Owen Sound and Jake Paterson of the Saginaw Spirit. All three are OHL goalies, for what that’s worth.

The NJT selection camp is a pressure cooker where players are urged to let their ability flow, to showcase their best game. Brossoit, who was named MVP of the Western Hockey League championship series last spring after he backstopped Edmonton to a 4-3 series victory, was convinced he had done precisely that.

“It can be hard (not to try to do too much),” Brossoit said. “But the experiences I have been through have helped me do that, to just play my game, not worry about what anyone else was doing and focus on myself.

“I feel my A game is good enough. A lot of the time in the past, that hasn’t been the case and confidence has been lacking in my game.

“But now, I’m feeling as confident as I can.”

No wonder Brossoit left Calgary confused.

Like all players released, as per Team Canada custom, Brossoit bravely faced the TV lights to share his thoughts on just having his dream shattered.

He endured that brief, harsh moment with dignity before being ushered off the big stage of a possible World Junior berth, out a side door and into a car that would take him back to the airport, three days after he arrived.

Brossoit will rejoin the Oil Kings for games this weekend against Victoria and Regina.

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